THINGS went from bad to worse for care worker Simon Hodgkinson after his girlfriend caught him in a passionate embrace with her work-friend.

The couple had a blazing row during which he threw a heavy metal candle holder which struck her on the head.

He then drove off in her £9,500 car and wrote it off after crashing through a stone wall and landing it on its roof in the River Ribble at Paythorne, near Gisburn

And to complete his misery Hodkinson failed a breathalyser test and was arrested.

Hodgkinson, 31, of St Paul's Street, Clitheroe, pleaded guilty to assaulting Emma Massey, driving with excess alcohol and unauthorised taking of a car aggravated by the crash.

He was banned from driving for 18 months and fined £220 for the excess alcohol offence, given a conditional discharge for the assault and ordered to pay £600 compensation and ordered to pay £400 compensation for the unauthorised taking.

Tom Snape, prosecuting, said Hodgkinson had been out in Clitheroe on Sunday March 30 and Miss Massey had been out in Burnley with her friends. The couple met up in the Rose and Crown in Clitheroe and eventually returned to Miss Massey's house with a work colleague of hers called Louise.

After hearing her boyfriend being sick in the back yard, Miss Massey went to bed but went downstairs again 10 minutes later when she saw Hodgkinson and Louise re-entering the house apparently arranging their clothing.

"She didn't think anything of it and went back to bed," said Mr Snape. "She again came down and from the top of the stairs she could see her boyfriend and Louise sitting on the settee kissing. She shouted at them both to get out of the house."

During the row that followed Hodgkinson threw the candleholder, hitting Miss Massey on the head.

Hodgkinson refused to leave the house and Miss Massey eventually left with her mother, telling her partner to clear his things out of her house.

He said at 2.30 am a police officer called to the scene of an incident at Paythorne Bridge heard the sound of shouting coming from the river.

Miss Massey's car was on its roof in the river and Hodkinson was nearby. He admitted being the driver when the car crashed through a wall and landed in the river.

He said he was insured for the car but admitted that the car belonged to Miss Massey and he was not allowed to drive it without her express permission.

Basharat Ditta, defending, said Hodgkinson was a man of previous good character who worked for Sycamore Rise Care in the Community as a car worker.

"He wants to put this sorry episode behind him," said Mr Ditta. "He had drunk a considerable amount on the night."